Agencies Scramble to Help

International relief organizations quickly work to aid Afghanistan refugees

LaTonya Taylor| December 3, 2001

2001This article is part of CT's digital archives. Subscribers have access to all current and past issues, dating back to 1956.

Christian relief organizations are joining the rush to provide food, shelter, and medical care to millions of Afghanistan's border-crossing refugees and people who are displaced within the country. International agencies rushed to provide emergency aid when American and British forces began attacking the Taliban regime after the terrorist strikes of September 11.

Andrew Natsios, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, says more than 3 million Afghans are living as refugees, and another 1 million are internally displaced. Natsios says 1.5 million Afghans may starve by winter's end and 5 to 7 million are dependent on outside food aid. Afghanistan has a population of 26 million.

"We're all trying to figure out where people are going, where they're staying, and ways we can help," says Dale Hanson Bourke of World Relief, the assistance arm of the National Association of Evangelicals. The agency has resettled 230 Afghan refugees in the United States this year. It is distributing food, medical supplies, and shelters— purchased with funds from international donors—to refugees through a small number of churches in Iran.

In other Christian relief activity: World Vision has sent more than 80 tons of tents, cooking utensils, blankets, and other supplies to Central Asia. Greater Europe Mission, Food for the Hungry, and World Concern are raising funds to buy 10,000 blankets for Afghan refugees.